Who will the Minnesota Vikings play in the wild card round of the playoffs?
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings failed to seize the moment Sunday night, suffering a lopsided loss to the Detroit Lions and surrendering the NFC North and a No. 1 playoff seed.
It means the Vikings are the No. 5 seed and will be playing on the road on wild card weekend, despite finishing with the second-best record in the NFC.
In the wild card round, the Vikings will face the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Rams on the road. That game is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. Central.
The Rams, who finished 10-7 to win the NFC West, were the only non-Lions team to beat the Vikings this season. In Week 8, Los Angeles topped Minnesota 30-20 thanks to a four-touchdown outing from Matthew Stafford.
If the Vikings beat the Rams, there's a scenario in which they have a rematch with the Lions in the divisional round. After their bye, the Lions will play the lowest-seeded winner of wild card weekend, so if the No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles beat the No. 7 Green Bay Packers, the No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the No. 6 Washington Commanders and the Vikings upset the Rams, the two NFC North titans will battle once again.
If the Vikings beat the Rams, other possible opponents for the divisional round include the Eagles and the Packers, the latter of which the Vikings already beat twice this year.
Sunday night's loss means the Vikings will need to win at least two straight road games if they hope to get to the Super Bowl.
